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Arming Against the Darkness
"As an occultist and zealous judicator of the Light, it is the job of the High Inquisitor to make public any writings on matters of the occult for distribution among the Order members. Many of these excerpts describe the dangers that pit themselves against the Light; both from within and without. Armed with such knowledge published within, the faithful servants of the Light will be armed with sufficient knowledge when it comes time to facing the impending darkness." '- His Eminence, High Inquisitor Orvyn Grelmont' I. Witches and Witchcraft - Heretics Among the Faithful Perhaps the most twisted and subversive enemies of the Light, witches are women who practice the occult. Their danger lies precisely in the fact that they often hide among larger populations. While some practice their dark arts in hiding, many form groups who work together to achieve a collective goal. Such groups are called covens and they most commonly establish themselves in remote areas where they can operate without harassment. Witches often specialize not only in potions, poisons and hexes, but also in the art of summoning. Witches will rarely be at the head of any plot, but rather are the agents of the architect, pledging their services and indeed their very lives and souls to a stronger evil. Due to the nature of witches and their ability to hide within groups and towns, rooting them out and putting an end to their schemes often proves challenging. This challenge leads to an all too common occurrence where a woman is falsely accused of witchcraft and is slain before being brought to trial as to uncover any truth to the accusations. The trademarks of any witchcraft activity includes a spread of disease, death, gutting of animals which are used in rituals and overall disturbed wildlife which reacts negatively to the practice of witchcraft. When a witch is slain, their spirit can remain, if they conjure a link between their soul and an object. Such objects, once touched or triggered in some way, release the spirit of the witch, manifesting into an spectral wraith, a banshee. A banshee’s wailing cry is deafening and incapacitating. They are able to hurl bolts of shadow magic at targets from afar and pierce their enemies, their form passing through the target and inflicting pain. Witches have no single Master. They serve a spectrum of being more powerful then they are, leeching off the beings greater power to in turn amount to something more than a parasite. The Lich - Lieutenants of the Scourge Liches are necromancers in service of the Lich King, or in service of themselves. As a Lich, they are not bound to the command of another like the scourge minions are bound to the Lich King. As independent agents, Liches are often seen pursuing their own goals. Their abilities include not only a strong mastery over death and decay, but also possess strong necromantic powers, able to command and raise the dead, commanding a sizable amount of minions under their direct command. In life, Liches were almost always individuals with innate magical abilities. Their thirst for knowledge and more power led them to dabble in heresies which they could never hope to control. Practicing such occult activities warps their bodies and turns them into the generals of the Lich King, offered power beyond a mortal may possess in exchange for their souls. To this end, Liches are extremely motivated and resourceful. They possess not only a degree of intelligence to permit their own self determination, but a mastery of both necromantic magic and any other magic be it frost, fire or arcane. When a Lich is bestowed their power by the Scourge, they forfeit their souls which is relinquished into a phylactery. So long as their phylactery remains intact, they can be brought back to life by their minions. They obtain immortality through their phylactery. Their greatest strength results in being also their greatest weakness. If the phylactery is destroyed, the Lich is defeated. Failure to destroy the Phylactery after killing a Lich means it is only a matter a time before he returns to the living world. In response to this, bands of faithful zealots are formed, seeking out and hunting these Phylacteries as an archeologist scours for relics. They are fervent in their search, never resting until the Phylacteries are found and destroyed. Without their destruction, the world can never be safe from the threat of the scourge. One of these bands of Phylactery hunters is the Watchful Hand, however with the recent restructuring into the larger Sovereign Order, resources have been diverted from phylactery hunting. However the brothers always remain alert and aware of the existence of phylacteries, doing their duty to the Light should one be found. Category:Books Category:Sovereign Order